Credit fraud schemer sentenced to 10 years in prison
Source: Amanda Peterka, E&E reporter • Posted: Friday, August 7, 2015
A federal court yesterday sentenced a man to 10 years in prison for his role in a biodiesel credit fraud scheme that brought in more than $41 million.
James Jariv, 64, of Las Vegas was also made to forfeit up to $6 million in cash and other assets and to pay another $6 million in restitution. Jariv was sentenced in the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada.
Jariv is the second man to be sentenced to prison for the scheme; in April, Nathan Stoliar, 64, of Australia received a two-year sentence after pleading guilty to five felonies. Jariv also pleaded guilty to five counts.
A third man, Jariv’s son Alex Jariv, 28, of Las Vegas also pleaded guilty for his role in the scheme and will be sentenced Aug. 18, the Justice Department said.
According to authorities, James Jariv and Stoliar claimed they produced biodiesel at a company called City Farm Biofuel and imported it to Las Vegas-based Global E Marketing. But the men allegedly sold little to no biodiesel to Global E Marketing and instead used the setup to generate $7 million worth of fake credits that refiners trade to comply with the renewable fuel standard.
The men also allegedly passed off some of the fuel, which did not have credits yet attached to it, as pure biodiesel produced at City Farm and sold it to entities at significantly higher prices than they otherwise would have been able to. They allegedly failed to give the U.S. government $34 million worth of renewable fuel credits for fuel they exported to Canada and Australia.
Alex Jariv worked for and on behalf of the companies, the Justice Department said, and conspired with James Jariv and Stoliar to launder the money they made through accounts in Canada, Nevada and Australia.
“This was an egregious scheme to defraud fuel suppliers, the United States, and a program designed to strengthen our nation’s petroleum independence and improve our air quality,” said Assistant Attorney General John Cruden of the Justice Department’s Environment and Natural Resources Division in a statement. “We will not tolerate such fraud and will vigorously prosecute those who put their own enrichment above our nation’s interests.”